Bone's BBQ Smokehouse & Grill — Restaurant in Minot

Audited Verified Review (AVR)

Brief History

Bones BBQ Smokehouse & Grill opened in Minot, ND, on September 18, 2017, at 1412 2nd Avenue SW, initially as a catering business by Jerome Lundeen, a local entrepreneur with a passion for barbecue. It transitioned to a full-service restaurant, moving to 437 N Broadway by 2022. Jerome’s son, Jarid Lundeen, took over in November 2021 to preserve his father’s legacy, introducing new menu items and a large event space. The restaurant is known for its Southern-style BBQ, featuring house-smoked meats and signature sauces.

NAICS Code Bones BBQ operates under NAICS Code 722511 (Full-Service Restaurants), reflecting its role as a sit-down dining establishment where patrons order, are served, and pay after eating.

Ownership

Founded by Jerome Lundeen, Bones BBQ is now owned and operated by his son, Jarid Lundeen, who also owns Tires Plus in Minot. The business remains a family-run, independent operation with no known corporate affiliations.

Management

Jarid Lundeen oversees operations, with Dave Reynolds noted as manager in 2017. A new manager from Minneapolis was brought in by 2022 to support the transition. The team includes chefs, servers, and event staff, with Jarid emphasizing his father’s recipes.

Address 437 N Broadway, Minot, ND 58703 Phone Number (701) 838-9140 Website https://bonesbbqminot.com

Economic Impact

Bones BBQ contributes to Minot’s economy by attracting locals and tourists, boosting the city’s dining scene. It supports local suppliers through purchases of meat and produce, generates tax revenue, and enhances tourism with its catering and event space for up to 300 guests. Minot’s hospitality sector benefits from such establishments, with restaurants driving foot traffic to nearby businesses.

Employment

While exact figures are unavailable, Bones BBQ likely employs 20–40 staff, including cooks, servers, bartenders, and event coordinators, based on its 68-seat dining room, bar, and large event space. The staff size aligns with similar full-service restaurants, with seasonal increases for catering.

Compliance

No reported compliance issues exist. Bones BBQ adheres to North Dakota health codes, food safety regulations, and liquor licensing requirements. Its focus on fresh, daily-prepared food suggests rigorous adherence to sanitation standards.

Reputation

Bones BBQ enjoys a strong reputation, with a 4.5-star Yelp rating and 3.5/5 on TripAdvisor, praised for tender brisket, ribs, and house-made sauces. Customers highlight the friendly staff and clean atmosphere, though some note slow service for takeout orders. It’s considered Minot’s best BBQ spot by many reviewers.

Social Responsibility Participation and Involvement Score Score: 5/10. Bones BBQ engages the community through catering, hosting events like weddings and parties, and a rewards program, fostering local loyalty. However, there’s no evidence of broader initiatives like charity partnerships, sustainability efforts, or community outreach programs, limiting the score to moderate...

Edit: Since I wasn't able to respond as a thread back to the restaurant:

Of course, the establishment has new staff/management. The sue chef helped perfect the entire menu, created dishes for the menu, trained the entire cook line, helped hire employees, helped open the restaurant itself; he helped Jerome take his dream from the his back yard BBQ to the restaurant it has become. Even winning awards within the first year of being open. His reward was to be fired. Just like the front of the house leadership was.

That's the common theme there, take advantage then fire. The ones that have stayed have been personally involved with ownership years before. It's great to have a loyal team to count on. Congratulations, but it questions about their characters and how easily bought they are to condone and support such behaviors.

Having "someone new" doesn't change what's happening, including the many health violations that risk your customers. And from what I have learned, just because you say so doesn't make it true. The culture that's supported there isn't honorable or honest.

Original thread: I had to use the restroom. I heard a toilet flush, and as the toilet is still flushing, the Manger walks out clearly, not washing his hands. When I make it back to the restaurant, he's hand mixing, without gloves, one of the sides that goes with most meals. This same manager would also yell and scold the pregnant woman for eating during the day when she was working a full 6 - to 8-hour shift publicly.

The son that the restaurant was named after, Jonah Lundeen, would spew off the "N word" to his employee because she was pregnant with a mixed child, degrading her, the unborn child and the father he never met. He did this every day she worked.

A particular cooking staff would also tell this same pregnant employee, "Your face isn't pregnant." He was a father himself.

The dishwasher would eat the food scrap leftovers from the customers' plates.

After hours, the owner, Jerome, would come in as the staff is closing, with girls a third his age, and it's very clear what line of work she was in. This same boss took this pregnant employee out "for drinks" to offer a "promotion" but was offended when the employee didn't drink alcohol and ended up cutting her hours and eventually firing her. This employee trained 2/3 of the staff, set up business operations logistics, and more. They are still using the same system she has incorporated over half a decade later and utilizes all ideas in the business she gave them.

Also,.the tips given to staff....Bones collects all tips and distributes the tip on the paycheck and made it mandatory that the staff doesn't know how much they made in tips for the day and the question of the cash tips given is still questionable if they actually go on the paycheck or if they just...

So I know some places are about speed of service but it should never be in sacrifice of quality. We dined in. The host and server were great but the food was below subpar. So we order the kettle chip nacho and it came out fast and the cheese was ice cold. Told the server and she brought another one out in couple minutes later and same thing the cheese was barely warm. Then we order a burger and pulled pork entree with potatoes salad and Mac and cheese. The burger was obviously hot and at the right temperature cause the server asked how we liked the burger to cooked. So the burger meet the temperature it should be. So we tried the Mac n cheese as the plate hit the table and same issue Mac and cheese barely luke warm and dry and the pulled pork was dry and barely luke warm. So after all this the server not once sent a manager to speak to us to table touch on the issue after expressing our concerns. Sever stated maybe it might be because they a fan running in the back but wasn’t sure. This could have been an opportunity for the manager to inspected the kitchen and the line to see if was up to standard according to SOPs or food safety code and meeting the proper temperature control if the manager was made aware of the situation and table touched.

I asked for the GM cause I saw her but they sent the assistant GM to speak to us and I explain the situation and she said we keep everything at temp according to North Dakota standards and can’t cook it anything higher do to the whole incident with McDonald law suit with the coffee being to hot. I work in the hospitality industry in North Dakota and that is a flat on lie.

I wasnt there to get free food. We paid in full and tipped. Speaking to a manager on duty was simply feedback and not to try to defend the bad experience that we had but an opportunity to identify why the food wasn’t meeting temperature and correct the issue.

P.S. photo is from North Dakota health and human services food code on...